Yale Splits Weekend Set With Brown

Yale opened the 2019-20 season with a 3-2 win over Brown at Ingalls, then
dropped a 5-1 decision to the Bears the following day.

NEW HAVEN—The Yale men’s hockey team opened the 2019-20 season with a weekend split of two games played against ECAC foes. On Friday night, the Bulldogs opened the season with a win 3-2 win over Brown at Ingalls Rink, thanks to a pair of goals by Curtis Hall and 18 saves by Corbin Kaczperski as the Bulldogs, who never trailed, beat Brown 3-2 at Ingalls Rink.

The Elis, who never trailed in the contest, had a 36-20 advantage in shots, including 15-6 in a first period that saw the home team hit the net twice. Hall got the first of his two midway through the opening frame. While falling to the ice, he threw in a rebound off a save by Brown goalie Gavin Nieto. A few minutes later, Mitchell Smith one-timed a pretty, behind-the-net feed from Phil Kemp to give the Blue a 2-0 lead.

Hall increased the lead to 3-1 midway through the second when he took a lead pass from Jack St. Ivany and cruised into the low slot. The Boston Bruins' draft pick deked right and went left with a backhander past the goalie's right pad.

“We were pretty physical and hard on pucks and we were really dialed in on getting pucks to the net,” said Hall. “It's what we have to do every night.”
 
Kaczperski made seven stops in the second and six in a frantic third period to earn the win. "The guys in front of me did it all, they made my job easy all night. I didn't feel great out there but they were blocking shots and making it easier for me," said Kaczperski.
 
The Bears, who beat Princeton and Quinnipiac in last year's ECAC playoffs, pulled Nieto for most of the last two minutes and produced multiple scoring chances while the Elis came close to empty-netters a few times.
 
"For the first game of the year, both teams played really well," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach. "I really liked our pace of play. And the way it ended… I think most of the games we play this year are going to be one-goal games right down the stretch. Good to get that test and survive it early."
 
The series moved to Providence on Saturday as the Bulldogs could not stay out of the penalty box, and the Bears took full advantage. Brown found the net on four power plays over the last two periods to grab a 5-1 decision at Meehan Auditorium in the second contest of the home-and-home series.
 
The Bulldogs had their win streak end at four against Brown as the home team had a 34-25 advantage in shots. Both teams are now 1-1 overall and 1-1 in ECAC play.
 
Yale left wing Cole Donhauser evened the score at 1-1 in the second period when he stole a pass deep in the home end and quickly flicked a shot past Gavin Nieto for the first-year's first career tally.
 
The Bears, who killed off a long 5-on-3 earlier in the period, used a pair of their own advantages later in the second to take a 3-1 edge into the second intermission. They added two more in the third to close out the game.
 
The Elis travel to Colgate and Cornell next weekend for a pair of conference games airing live at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

—Staff Reports